I Love College
by Amasian
Summary: College life is turbulent with school work, social work, work work, and now... an engagement! Who would've known the first arrogant bastard Sakura met at university will help her through it all? SasSak, NarHin, NejTen, InoShikTem, R/R! UPDATED 6/1/2011
1. I Love College

_That party last night was awfully crazy I wished we taped it  
I danced my ass off and had this one girl completely naked  
Drink my beer and smoke my weed,  
But my good friends are all I need  
Pass out at 3, wake up at 10, go out to eat, then do it again  
Man, I love college  
__-_"I Love College," Asher Roth

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

Sakura Haruno beamed. She smiled so wide the wind flung her coral pink hair into her mouth as she began walking toward her college dormitory. This is the start of her journey at Kage University as a Biology major. Everything is so new. The buildings are new, the people are new… no one knew she use to have a back brace!

"You're gonna have to shut your mouth sometime, Forehead."

Sakura immediately transformed her smile into a scowl as she turned her attention to the blond walking beside her.

"Go dance around a tree, Pig."

Ino Yamanaka was the first friend she ever made in life. The two had sleep overs together, took classes together, ate lunch together, shopped together, and now they're rooming in college together. Although they're not taking the same classes anymore – Ino decided to major in Dance – the two childhood friends will be seeing each other plenty.

"Okay, so, here's the game plan: we're shoving all our things into the room and then walking around the floor to meet everyone! Then, we'll move onto other floors and then the building next to us, and from there we'll fan out. I'll do all the talking while you write down which rooms have cute guys in them!" declared Ino.

Sakura furrowed her brows and gave her friend a deadpan look. "You know, the more I think about you, the less I think about you. Now, stop trying to deface us with your debauchery because I will NOT tolerate rooming with a ho-"

"Excuse me? Debauchery? Who USES words like that these days-"

As the two roommates bickered back and forth, they approached a red brick building topped with a beige coned roof. There was a room encased with glass jutting out on the left hand side of the building which lead into a garden. Sakura speculated this was a common room of sorts. The windows that decked each story of the residence hall were simple yet elegant with frames of beige that matched the roof. Above the entrance – of which the girls were skipping up the steps – were the engraved words "KONOHA" which signified the name of the building.

"…and you think you're SO smart," continued Sakura, "Well guess who's the one that drove your drunk ass home last week after you INSISTED on driving while inebriated, hm?"

Ino glared at Sakura sideways. "What are you pulling out of your ass? I did drive myself home that night! My car was in my driveway the morning after!"

The biology major rolled her eyes, "Dumbass, I drove! You sat in the passenger seat and steered with a paper plate."

Ino shut her mouth and just continued glaring.

'_ChYEAH, that's right, Pig, I win! OINK, OINK, OINK!_' celebrated Inner Sakura.

"Hello!"

A tan upperclassmen with two parallel brunette buns on top of her head snapped Sakura out of her mental victory dance. She wore a pastel pink Chinese styled top with jean shorts.

"Hi!" replied the girls.

"Are you guys checking in?" the stranger asked.

"Yes we are!" smiled the Sakura and Ino, donning on a polite facade that masked their completely different demeanor a minute ago.

"My name's Tenten, I'm one of the Resident Assistants in the Konoha-Suna cluster. Do you know if you're living in Konoha or Suna Hall?"

Sakura spoke up before Ino. "Nice to meet you, my names Sakura! This is Ino, my roommate. I think we'll be living in 701 Konoha."

Tenten nodded and grinned. "That's great! I'll be living in the building next to you guys! One of my friends is on your floor, but he's the Resident Assistant on the other side from you. What you wanna do is go down this hallway then make a left so you'll be in front of the common room. This is where you'll be checking in. You can get your keys there. I'm actually on my way putting up some signs to direct people. Good luck with moving in!"

The duo waved goodbye as the brunette sped off. Sakura and Ino whipped around to advance in the directions they were given. "I TOLD you we were early!" nagged Ino. "Why on God's green Earth did you drag me up at 6 AM just to get here before everyone else?"

"Early bird gets the speci-OOF!"

The girls took a sharp turn and unfortunately Sakura collided into the lean chest of someone… rather…

Her jaw dropped as she looked up from the floor at who crashed into her. '_TALL, DARK, and HANDSOME? Here? Already? NOW? Wow, he's gorgeous!_'

"Hn." The dark haired student sneered down at her. He didn't waste another second interacting with Sakura so he side stepped around her to continue his way out the building.

Watching his exit, Sakura shook her head in contempt. She pushed herself off the ground and dusted off the back of her shorts. "Well, screw me I guess."

Ino ignored her friend's dismay. "Oh my God, Sakura! Did you get a look at that guy? Do you think he lives in our building? I totally think he lives in our building! What if he lives on our floor. EEEK, oh my God, what IF he lives on our floor? I'm so glad I wore my sex me outfit!"

"You're such a slut." Sakura scoffed. She knew Ino was innocent and just liked to exaggerate eye candy.

"I prefer opportunist," Ino replied, sticking out her tongue.

* * *

As soon as the plethora of move-in boxes and miscellaneous items were finally transported from their cars and into room 701, Ino and Sakura looked incredulously at the amount of stuff in their room. It was almost comical the way the girls put their hands on their hips simultaneously.

"I can't believe we have so much crap to unpack!" exclaimed Sakura, shuffling her way toward her backpack.

Ino rubbed her temples and nodded. "Ditto that. I guess we should start by setting up the computers and putting on some music?"

"Already on that," Sakura replied, "but I am so NOT getting on the bad side of our R.A. on the first day."

Ino rolled her eyes and strolled over to Sakura's laptop where she cranked up the speakers to its maximum capacity. The biologist glared at her roommate and quickly undid her friend's action. "Hey!"

"Re-LAX Ms.-Goody-Two-Shoes! It's just the first day, they'll cut us some slack."

Sakura rolled her eyes and started unpacking. It was nearly three hours later when the afternoon sun settled against the tye-dyed sky that the girls collapsed on their made beds.

Their room was shaped in a rectangular fashion with two humble sized walk in closets near the door and beds pushed up against said closets on the other side. A long desk paved the wall opposite from the door with a massive shelving unit above the table.

Ino's side consisted of lots of hot pink, black and white zebra prints, and hints of yellow. Sakura's side bore streaks of brown, white, magenta, and apple green. The Dance major plastered her walls with pages ripped out from fashion magazines and pictures of friends and family. Sakura had pictures of friends and family, too, but the busiest section on her side was definitely the desk area. She jammed her shelves packed with anything from encyclopedias to biology periodicals to anatomy and physiology charts.

"FINALLY!" exhaled Ino, rolling around in her bed.

"Tell me about it. I guess we should take a shower now. I smell like a LAN party."

Ino knew Sakura had her guilty pleasure of intense competition. Video games just happened to fall into her competitive requirements. The blonde tumbled out of bed and walked into her respective closet, Sakura doing the same. The latter student pushed the door closed before peeling off her dirty clothing.

"Ugh, jeez," Sakura mumbled, "I think I forgot to dig out my towel."

The shorter girl shuffled her way out of the closet in a pair of matching cotton white bra and panties. Ino was just about to unhook the back of her bra when suddenly the door flung wide open and hit her in the head.

"HELLLLLOOOOOOO ROOMMATE SASUKE!"

"OW!"

"Oh my God!"

"Oh my GOD!"

"What kind of raging dumbass would mistake room 700 with 701?"

Sakura's jaw dropped. Everything happened so suddenly. One minute she was bending over to reach a storage unit under her bed and the next she felt like she was in a poorly filmed porno. A tanned, blonde male with spiky hair stood flabbergast at her threshold while Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome from earlier crossed his arms from the door across the hall of her room.

"WHO CARES? What kind of raging dumbass would open a door that hard?" boomed Ino, pushing the door away from her closet. The intruder was shoved into Sakura's closet from this motion and the biologist quickly grabbed the nearest object to cover herself. This happened to be a lamp.

"Eheh I love lamp!" offered the stranger, scratching his head and inching his way slowly out the entryway. "I'm SO sorry, I was totally under the impression that my rooming assignment was 701! Look, I swear I'm not lying, this sheet even… says… oh crap."

Sakura flipped onto her bed instantly and rolled herself tightly in between her sheets. "DON'T THOSE DOORS LOCK?"

Ino, in the meantime, clothed herself and walked to the doorway to gawk at Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome and beamed. "Hi! I don't think we formally met. I'm Ino."

"Sasuke," the laconic male muttered and walked away down the corridor. His - presumably – roommate slowly retreated into room 700 as quietly as possible.

Ino immediately changed her demeanor from bright and cheerful to menacing and hateful. Sakura contributed by exerting additional anger under the layers of blankets she piled over herself. The color on her face could only be a sign of intense hate or embarrassment, or both.

"I'm Naruto by the way! Nice, um, nice meeting you girls! I'll see you soon okay bye!" He managed to scramble before shutting the door to save himself from an early death.

Sakura was not having any of his shenanigans. She flipped off her bed with the comforter wrapped around her body and glared at her neighbor's door. The biologist set her chest back and posed her head in a 'Oh-hell-no' way while bringing an index finger up in the air. "That was NOT OKAY. If you come in my room one more time, so HELP ME GOD THAT I DON'T-"

Room 700's door creaked open just enough for Naruto to speak through the slit of the threshold, "I'm sorry, jeez! I just wanted to make a grand entrance! Here, have some ramen, that's a serious truce right there!"

Sakura caught a bag of ramen that came flying at her, still in her sushi roll blanket formation.

"One packet of ramen for a bucket load of embarrassment is bullshit and it WON'T save you from me kicking your ass!"

Another package of ramen came soaring at Sakura.

Naruto negotiated, "I'm giving you 2% of my life right now. I would forgive and forget after ramen number one, but ramen number two? That's like saying you're my BFF for LIFE!"

Sakura expelled a cry of frustration and slammed her door shut.

* * *

"Shikamaruuuu! Choujiiii! I never knew you were on this floor!"

Ino bounced toward a languid looking individual and his auburn haired roommate. Sakura advanced slowly behind with both arms hugging her body after the extreme invasion of privacy. She was cursing Naruto half to death in her head.

"I'm busy now, can I ignore you some other time?" asked Shikamaru, clearly in a state of diminished energy. He rested his chin on his palm and looked wearily at Ino. "This is eighteen going on nineteen years I'm going to have to shake out of you for stealing my time with your whining."

Ino stuck out her tongue and shoved Shikamaru by the shoulders before taking a seat next to Chouji.

"What happened to you Sakura? You look like someone accidentally walked into your room while you were bending over with your undergarments reaching for a towel and exposing everything."

The residents of room 701 gaped at Chouji. Before either of the roommates could question anything, a girl with four spiky blonde pigtails flaring out in ordinal directions came into the seventh floor common room clutching two bags filled with soda. More residents came piling into the room and lined up against the walls or plopped down on the lounge chairs.

Sakura made eye contact with her neighbors from room 700 and immediately looked away. A light blush tinted her cheeks as she fixed her vision intensely at a spot on the floor.

"Alright, listen up freshman! Ah shit, where's Neji…," the pigtailed girl trailed off, looking behind her.

"Right here. Begin the meeting," responded a long haired upperclassmen emerging from the doorway, perking up the interest of many females in the room.

"Wow. Just look at that hair!" whispered Ino.

"Will you cease talking for once?" replied Sakura, giving Ino a look.

"I concur," agreed Shikamaru, only to receive a swift jab in the ribs by the blonde.

The girl carrying the sodas cast the beverages on a table in the middle of the room. "Okay, so like I was saying. Listen up you freshmonsters! Yes, that's right, you heard correctly, I just called you freshmonsters. My name's Temari and I've been doing this R.A. thing for going on four years now and I know what each and every one of you are thinking about: raging."

Sakura and Ino eyed each other at the bluntness of their R.A.

"Thanks to the increased security and rules of residence life, you will now have a modicum of a chance in finding a rewarding and/or satisfying party on campus. If you really want to party, I suggest you find a nice house off campus or floor not in this cluster to cater to your drunken needs. Now, the only exception to this rule is the following: if you are unlucky enough to be on a floor where the R.A. actually gives a rat's ass about following the rules, which in your unfortunate cases is true, then you are shit out of luck."

Chouji and Shikamaru exchanged looks of disbelief. Is this chick for real?

"I'm a senior and that means I know what freshmonsters like you are capable of doing because believe me, I've lived through it already. So where do I stand in this game of R.A. versus resident? Well, the higher ups give me money along with free room and board to attend to the emotional needs of first year residents. Turns out you're not first year residents at all. You're all masochists and clowns ready to pull pranks on everyone and everything, but please know this: I am ready for you, have been for awhile, watch your backs, the end and goodnight."

Temari looked over at the her male counterpart carrying a stack of pizzas as he plopped the boxes down next to the drinks. "Neji Hyuuga. In charge of rooms 713 through 728. Double majoring in Microeconomics and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Here's some pizza. Commence eating."

Neji flipped over a box of said food and students started shuffling toward it. Sakura, Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji sat completely bewildered by the first meeting.

The spiky haired mathematician gaped. "Horror,"

"Oh, I forgot!" yelled Temari. Everyone fell silent quickly. "For all you emotionally sad people – lookin' at you, sulky eyes-," the blonde nodded toward Shikamaru. He seemed nonplussed while Ino and Chouji snickered. "-don't kill yourself on campus. Bleed on your own time off campus because the paper work is a bitch. Meeting adjourned!"

* * *

For the first couple of chapters, I'll be providing information about the main characters and the story in general. Here's a list of everyone's major (yes, these are all majors based off of my own University):

Naruto: Undecided  
Sasuke: Double majoring in Macroeconomics and Business, concentrating in Finance and Operations Management  
Sakura: Biology, hoping to get into the Pre-Medical track  
Hinata: Nursing  
Neji: Double majoring in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Microeconomics  
Tenten: Double majoring in Kinesiology and Physics  
Lee: Kinesiology (Exercise Science)  
Shikamaru: Double majoring in Math and Accounting  
Ino: Dance  
Kiba: Veterinary and Animal Sciences  
Chouji: Hospitality and Tourism Management  
Shino: Plant, Soil, and Insect Sciences  
Karin: Music  
Sai: Art  
Kankuro: Theater  
Temari: Chemistry  
Jugo: Microbiology  
Suigetsu: Marine biology  
Haku: Psychology

If any more characters appear, I will make a note of them. I tried to tailor the majors to suit the characters.


	2. Motivation

_Motivation such an aggrevation,  
Accusations don't know how to take them.  
Inspiration's getting hard to fake it.  
Concentration never hard to break it.  
Situation never what you want it to be_.  
-"Motivation," Sum 41

* * *

'_Where the HELL is the professor?_' Inner Sakura roared.

Sakura peered around the classroom with suppressed anger at the college students socializing away. She rested her chin on her palm in boredom and tapped the end of her mechanical pencil on the table. It's already been fifteen gorgeous minutes since the class was supposed to start and she could've done something nice with her hair instead of rushing to class! That dastardly fiend…

"Hn."

Sakura glanced to her right and scowled. Tall, dark, and handsome – who actually has a name now, Sasuke – happened to plop down next to her before the start of class. Actually, plop was too brash to describe a man of his mannerism, what he actually did was seat gracefully on the imperfect chair that should be honored for serving his perfect ass.

She didn't like him. He was so stuck up and stand off-ish to everyone around him, it was genuinely a surprise to Sakura girls actually fell for this "I'm so cool, I don't talk to anyone" façade. Who the hell did he think he was!

"Aaah, good morning class. My name is Kakashi Hatake, but you can all call me Professor. Welcome to Leadership in Society, a general requirement class that is necessary for living in the Konoha-Suna cluster."

Sakura snapped out of hating Sasuke and brought her attention to the professor. Strangely, the scholar had a blue mask shielding half his face that matched the royal blue suit clothing his body.

'_Okay, REGROUP Sakura! Listen good and listen hard because this will be your first A of the semester!_'

The gray haired professor strolled to the podium in the front of the class and began speaking of expectations and the material on the syllabus. Unfortunately for Sakura, her wandering mind was questioning more about the attire of the professor rather than the words spewing out of his mouth. She wasn't the only one, for half the class was just as curious as to why the man wore a mask.

"Alright, so that's enough about the class. Today, we're going to be a little bit more creative. Your mission is to find an ally. This is probably your first class of the day and it is also the first class of your undergraduate-"

"Oi! I am SO sorry Professor, I completely obliterated my alarm clock this morning and slept in. It won't happen again, believe it!"

In rushed Naruto with books clenched in his hands and a wild expression on his face. Kakashi tilted his head toward the newcomer and gave his student a dry look. Without further adieu, the professor's eyes crinkled as if smiling (but no one would know, that darn mask was in the way) and motioned for Naruto to sit down. Sakura scoffed at the unprofessional attitude and followed Naruto's person to his place at the end of the row where he sat down next to a shy looking girl.

"As I was saying, this is also the first day of your undergraduate career. I want everyone to partner up with the person sitting next to them and get to know one another. You will then come up and give a three minute presentation in total of what you both learned. Begin."

Sakura's eyes slowly rolled to the back of her head and she leaned back in her chair. After expelling a convincing groan, she turned to Sasuke. He had his arms crossed and stared straight ahead, glaring daggers at the unknowing professor.

"I didn't know my presence would move you so much, Pink."

"Don't flatter yourself," spat Sakura. "Let's just get this over with." She flipped open her strawberry pink notebook and began writing, 'Name: Sasuke.'

"This is stupid."

"This is an assignment. Stupid or not, we're doing it. I'm going to start. What do you see yourself doing in the future?"

"Hn."

Why was he being so difficult over this simple assignment? The girl had never met a more frustrating person! It was the first day, of COURSE everything was going to be a cake walk!

"I'm sorry, I don't think I've made myself clear. What. Do you. See yourself doing. In the future?" demanded Sakura, emphasizing every word clearly with an oomph of impatience.

After a pause, Sasuke obdurately replied, "That's none of your business."

Sakura stared at him with intent to fight. Instead, she focused on her piece of notebook paper and proceeded writing, '_Future goal: to use as little words as possible and become the world's biggest prick to everyone and their mother._'

"What's your major?" Sakura asked, writing as she spoke.

"Hn."

'_Major: Coloring with an emphasis on crayons_.'

"And what's your favorite hobby?"

"I have none."

'_Hobbies: convincing random sorority girls around campus that they hooked up_.'

There were more exchanges between the two in the game of Q&A while Sakura scribbled down more concocted answers. After she was done, she set her pencil down and turned to Sasuke – who was still clearly not interested.

"Now that I'm done with you, I'll give you a mini biography about me-,"

"-One second, let me just prepare myself for the verbal brilliance that is surely to be headed my way," interrupted Sasuke, inhaling a deep breath of air. Sakura watched him dully as he expelled his inhalation and motioned her to continue with his hands.

"My name is Sakura Haruno and I'm a biology major. I want to be a doctor when I grow up. I'm hoping to get accepted into the Pre-Medical program here next semester. I love working hard and especially on school work. I was the captain of the girl's track and swim team in high school, the valedictorian to my class of 1,500, and I volunteered at a bunch of local hospitals during my past summers. My hobbies include studying, shopping, and baking. My favorite color's pink, I love sweets-,"

"You'll have shut your mouth eventually,"

"-and I dislike arrogant freshmen who think they know everything." Sakura finished, narrowing her eyes at Sasuke. The boy, in return, smirked and replied, "Hypocrite."

For once, Sasuke spoke seriously. "Why do you want to be a doctor?"

Sakura's lips parted slightly, as if taken aback by the question.

Inner Sakura was freaking out. '_THINK! Your motor mouth doesn't just shut off like that!_'

"Why the hell not?"

Sasuke gave her an oblique look, as if disappointed in her answer.

Kakashi suddenly cleared his throat. "Okay class, let's bring it together. Who would like to go first?"

Naruto's hand rocketed straight up and shook with anticipation. The professor obliged to his urgency. Naruto and the nervous looking girl who sat next to him stood up and faced the class. It was the taller student who spoke first.

"My partner's name is Hinata! She is the nicest person you will ever meet at this school! Her dad owns Hyuuga Corporation, how insane is that? Despite being wicked rich, Hinata likes simple things like walks and stuff. She said she played tennis but wasn't good, but I bet she's lying and she's a monster on the courts. I think she said she is a Nursing major-," Naruto paused to sneak a peak at Hinata, who nodded and stared intently at the floor, "-right, she definitely is a Nursing major, which is very honorable! But I think that's all we had time to cover before the Professor cut us off."

Said professor smiled and closed the orange book he mysteriously pulled out. "Your turn, Hinata."

"Aah… okay. Well, this is Naruto Uzumaki and he is currently undecided in major. He… um, loves ramen. He thinks ramen is the best thing in the world-,"

"-No, I KNOW it's the best thing in the world-," Naruto interrupted

Hinata looked like she was about to faint. "Oh, I'm sorry! Ramen is definitely the best thing in the world. H-he likes the color orange and enjoys playing sports. Aah… Naruto also is very passionate about building things, especially using Legos as first draft tools. His most important future goal is to become someone respectable with a hard earned job."

Sakura smiled a bit at the girl's genuine words. It put Naruto in a different light compared to last night.

"Very good you two. Next, let's go over here to this side of the room," said Kakashi, turning his head over toward Sakura and Sasuke. "How about you two?"

Sakura felt her heart drop. She had a very bad feeling about this. "O-okay,"

The partners stood up and faced the class. Sakura glanced over at Sasuke, who had his hands in his pocket and stared straight forward, almost like he was a natural at public speaking. She briefly scanned the audience to see most of the girls perking up and most of the guys slouching back in disinterest.

To her surprise, Sasuke spoke first.

"Well, this is Sakura Haruno, Miss Hyper Competitive," Sakura visibly dropped her jaw and looked at Sasuke as if betrayed.

"She was the captain for every sport ever existed in high school, reads encyclopedias to bed every night, rescues cats stuck in trees just for fun – blah, blah, blah. She wants to be a doctor but fails to realize that medicine is a dead career. Thanks to insurance companies and malpractice lawyers, all her dreams to – well, she's not even sure why she wants to go into medicine – become a doctor are going to be shot to death. That was a real honest to God compliment that I even hinted and assumed she would make it into Medical school. Turns out she's actually an assassin and murderer sent out to kill patients in their sleep-,"

"_E_-NOUGH! That is all such crap! You are such a liar!" accused Sakura, face red as flames. Sakura stopped glowering at Sasuke with enough time to whip around to face the class. "This is Sasuke, the one man freak show. He's prone to using grunts and growls as his main source for communication. His major? Well, I couldn't quite figure that one out because I don't speak troll-,"

Naruto interrupted with a hearty guffaw.

"-and his hobbies? That one was tough, too, because I don't think he heard my voice from that pedestal he puts himself on - which is at least six stories high."

The class sat in silence. Sakura had a grin of triumph and peered over at Sasuke, who was smirking down at her with his own grin of triumph. She furrowed her brows and glared at him, '_What is he up to?_'

Then it suddenly dawned on her. The class had witnessed her unadulterated outburst at point blank – oh _God_, and in front of the professor too!

'_There is no way in hell Professor Hatake will allow this catastrophe slip by,_ _oh my God he's going to judge everything I do now! I made a horrible first impression, GREAT going Sakura, you stupid, stupid-!'_

"Well that certainly tickled me inside," Kakashi chuckled, "I think that pleased me so much I'll dismiss you guys early today. Read chapters one to five for our next class. Enjoy the nice weather!"

Sakura shut her mouth – which was agape for too long, she concluded. She furrowed her brows and looked at Kakashi with clear confusion. The masked Professor just smiled in response before peeling open his orange book and disappearing behind the pages.

* * *

"Ino, you don't understand! It was completely embarrassing! Now I'm going to be known as that crazy bitch who has a bad temper!"

Sakura sandwiched her metallic pink phone between her ears and shoulder. She navigated between the crowd of people on her journey toward her next class, her .

"What the hell do you mean I AM a crazy bitch who has a temper? Who's side are you on?" yelled Sakura, loud enough to attract a couple of questioning looks from strangers.

"Why do you always do that to me? You knew what would happen! What? Okay, okay, I'll talk to you later, bye."

The girl snapped her phone shut and shoved it in her pocket. She fingered the straps of her backpack as she approached an impressive looking building with one of the walls entirely made out of glass. The roof was slanted with an elegant curve which was also paned with glass. Sakura could see the solar panels on various sections of the building. High tech, much?

As she approached her Organic Chemistry lecture hall, the freshman caught a glimpse of Hinata, the girl she indirectly met earlier in the day. Her first reaction was to hide behind the dozens of other people streaming into the classroom but realized almost every other seat was about to be taken up. Swallowing up her pride, she walked toward her classmate.

"Hi there. My name's Sakura… I'm in your Leadership in Society class. Is this seat taken?"

Hinata shook in surprise at Sakura's voice and looked up at her. Her pale eyes widened a bit and she immediately hung her head away from the newcomer. "Yes, I-I remember. Please, take a seat."

The pink haired girl was confused at her classmate's behavior but acquiesced anyways. She absent mindedly let her backpack slide into the empty seat next to her.

"So how's your first day?" Sakura asked, striking up a conversation. One of the bullets on her 'to-do' list was make a new friend, and this was a great opportunity.

"Oh! Y-You're talking to me! It, um, it's going well. Professor Hayate seems pleasant and my Nursing seminar was interesting, but I'm not sure about this class, yet. I-I heard from my cousin that the average last semester was a C-…,"

Sakura's eyes bulged. "C-! WHAT? Is the Professor a slave driver or something? Did your cousin do okay?"

Hinata toyed with her notebook and avoided eye contact. "You could say that. I think I remember my c-cousin saying she's a world renowned doctor and medical researcher, which might explain the difficulty. I, um, think I heard that she's one of the most decorated faculty on this campus… and yes, my cousin did okay. He's a very intelligent person, he passed easily."

"That's good to hear," mumbled Sakura, horrific images racing through her mind about failing grades and endless studying. "What's his name? Maybe we should ask him for pointers and stuff, like a tutor."

"Aah… I don't think that would work, Neji is usually busy researching at a lab or at the track-,"

"Neji! Neji Hyuuga? Is he a Resident Assistant in Konoha Hall?"

Hinata tilted her head in surprise at the girl next to her. "You've met Neji?" she questioned.

"Yeah!" Sakura nodded, slowly grinning. "Wow, this world is so small! He's the R.A. on the other side of the floor from me."

The Nursing major smiled as well. "I'm living in Suna, the building next to you."

Sakura whipped out her phone and started pressing buttons. "Awesome! What's your number, I'll add-,"

All of a sudden, her backpack was pushed to the ground by her feat, off the seat it was previously on. Sakura grabbed her bag and angrily glared.

"Pink," Sasuke uttered, seating himself next to her.

"What are you doing here?" Her pleasant mood evaporated.

"Hn,"

"Why are you _here_?"

"Don't flatter yourself, this was the last seat in the auditorium," replied Sasuke, taking out a notebook and pen.

She followed suit. '_Ignore him. He's just a jerk by nature,_' assured Inner Sakura.

Suddenly, a tall blonde woman with two pigtails strolled into the lecture hall and stepped onto the stage. One hand was stationed at the crest of her hip as she sauntered confidently to the podium. The Professor shrugged her laptop case onto the table and hooked up the computer to the projector. Two large screens flashed on the projector head and the first PowerPoint slide of the year shone on the board.

"Good afternoon class, my name is Tsunade. I don't want you calling me ma'am, Mrs., or Miss Tsunade, because it makes me sound like an old hag. I assure you, if I hear any of you first or second years – and God forbid you're a third year repeating this course because you might just want to give up – calling me any of the aforementioned names, I will flunk you before you can even say 'medical school.'"

Sakura started scribbling her first line of notes. '_DO NOT REFER TO TSUNADE AS ANYTHING ELSE OTHER THAN TSUNADE OR PROFESSOR._'

"I can list my achievements in life but that will take longer than this lecture itself. I'm not afraid to flaunt what I've got because I worked damn hard to achieve where I am today."

The next PowerPoint slide was a copy of her resume which composed of two pages filled with top notch credentials.

"If you don't like my attitude, that's fine, I probably don't like yours, either. If you disrupt my class I will show you the door and find your name to make sure you don't pass Organic Chemistry. Contrary to popular opinion, it is not impossible to pass my class because I know I am a fantastic teacher. If you pass with a B in this class, you will be okay with every other science course from here on out. If you pass with an A in my Organic Chemistry class, you will definitely get into Med School."

The screen flipped to the next slide which showed a front view of the Kage Medical School campus. Sakura was already familiar with the campus from prior research and the various posters she hung on her walls back home.

"I will help you until you achieve whatever goal you have within the medical field but if you waste my time, I will make you pay. Plus, I'm one of the only professors worth a damn so it's in your best interest to not bother me if you actually don't care. Without further adieu, let's start with naming alkanes, alkenes, and alkynes."

* * *

Naruto entered the common room with a loud thud, yawning in midst of his noisy entrance. The door slammed shut behind him, drawing Sakura from her studying trance as she looked up from her spot on the couch.

Every floor had a common room for residents to congregate in a larger area. It was used for hanging out, studying, and anything else the tricky first years could get away with. Currently, Sakura invaded an entire table with notes and a queue of loose leaf paper, her face buried in a Organic Chemistry book.

Ino and Chouji occupied the table next to her. Both seemed to be uninterested in their homework. Ino lay across the couch on her stomach, flipping through her iPod while Chouji was snacking on a bag of potato chips. Outside on the balcony sat Shikamaru, reclined in one of the lounge chairs staring at the sky.

"Sasuke was right. I'm a raging dumbass!" cried Naruto, clearly in vain.

Ino perked up at the chance to insult. "You don't say?"

Naruto stuck his tongue out at the other blonde and pulled a chair opposite to Sakura. The biology major placed her pencil down. "What happened?"

"Apparently I messed up picking this one class and got placed into a mechanical engineering one!"

Chouji was mid-way depositing a chip in his mouth, "Well, what's the problem? If you didn't like it, you can drop it right after."

Naruto spun around in his chair and sulked some more. "The Professor was really interesting and the material on the syllabus was cool but I think it's way beyond me."

Sakura spoke up, "Why do you put yourself down right away? If it's interesting to you, why not stick with it?"

"Don't give him any ideas," drawled Ino.

"But it's _mechanical engineering_!"

The pink haired girl shut her laptop and leveled her gaze with Naruto's. "I thought you liked building things?"

He nodded, "I do!"

"And I also thought your most important goal is to become someone respectable with a hard earned job?"

Naruto nodded slowly, "Yeah."

"Well, do you back down from challenges?"

"No."

Sakura flipped open her laptop again. "Then it's settled. I dare you to stick with this class for an entire semester. Nothing worth having will be easy."

"It's not that simple, Sakura! I don't even know what I want to do with my life! What if I fail out of it?"

"What if? As cliché as it sounds, you'll never know unless you try." The biologist checked her phone for the time. She started gathering her belongings and shoved them into her backpack.

"I have to go, I have a meeting with the Pre-Med advisor soon. You need to stop being a scaredy cat and just do it!"

* * *

Tsunade slept in her office, slumped over in the most awkward and pain-inducing position ever. There was a strange yin and yang factor between neat and messy in the room, but the doctor stayed unconscious nonetheless. The fluorescent light did not disturb her at all, but it was the obnoxious noise the office phone made that jerked the woman out of her nap.

"Tsunade," Shizune, her assistant, spoke through the intercom, "There's a student by the name of Sakura Haruno here to see you."

The pig tailed woman rubbed her eyes wearily and blinked a couple of times. She grabbed a mug next to her and mistakenly gulped down cold coffee. It produced a gag from the woman and she cringed.

"Send her in," commanded Tsuande, raking a hand through her mass of blonde hair.

A minute later, the woman heard three knocks against the door.

"Come in,"

A pink haired girl emerged from the mahogany doors and strolled shyly toward the massive desk.

"Good afternoon, Professor Sen-,"

"-Tsuande,"

"Tsunade." Sakura corrected herself and bewildered at how insignificant she felt in front of the gaze of the blonde woman. She could already feel Tsunade's superior intellect seep into her very own pores and wished deeply to pull the confidant Inner Sakura out to face the advisor.

"My name's Sakura Haruno and I'm currently a freshman. I've read all about your accomplishments and needless to say, I'm incredibly impressed. I'm not flattering you, this is honestly how I feel. On the school website I saw that you were also the Pre-Med advisor and the requirements to become admitted into the program is a 3.8 GPA and an interview with you."

Sakura started pulled out some papers from her backpack and offered them to Tsuande.

"Here's my transcript, I've got the 3.8 GPA down pact. As for this meeting, I was hoping I could fulfill the second half of the requirements and have an interview with you."

Tsunade looked bored from across the cluttered area with her palm cradling her chin. Sakura was an inch away from abandoning the interview altogether and run out of the office, drop out of school, and live forever in the basement of her parent's house.

After a short pause, Sakura continued, "I'm an incredibly prepared and organized person, I've taken time to plan out any questions pertaining my ability in classes, about the medical field, and even took the time to memorize personal facts about different Pre-Med professors at our university!" She sped up the pace of her words as she spoke.

Tsunade withdrew her elbow from the table and crossed her arms together. "Well there's really only one question. Why do you want to become a doctor?"

That question seemed to be haunting Sakura like a ghost lately. First her parents, then her high school guidance counselor, then Sasuke, and now Tsunade. The girl had been truthful – she had prepared for all types of interview questions, in fact she painstakingly spent the last month searching for typical interview questions. The one she despised the most happened to be the most introspective one of them all.

"I… um… I mean, I want to use my experience to make the kind of catches that will save lives-,"

"-Heard of it-"

"-O-kay… ever since my grandfather fell ill-,"

"-Cry me a river-"

"-I want to help people who can't help themselves?"

"Lame."

Sakura felt her hopes and dreams shatter and envisioned her body being sucked into a black hole that spontaneously appeared in Tsunade's office.

"See, these clichés fuel most of my pent up anger. I'd like you to come up with a better and more genuine answer. If by chance you find that you can't find a better answer, then please be aware I'm going to make it my personal mission to make every other Pre-Med advisor in this country know you are not fit to become a doctor."

Sakura felt her eyes water up and throat tingle but she dug her nails deeply into the palm of her hand to suppress the hurt. She clenched her tongue tightly between her teeth.

"I expect nothing but excellence from MY students and if you lack the passion or reason in the first place, you lack the foundation for anything else you will ever build upon your medical career. Everything will go downhill from there and I will NOT let you become a murderer of one of my future patients because you lack of a strong will. Dismissed."

Speechless, Sakura gathered her belongings and for the first time in her life, Miss Hyper Competitive Sakura Haruno did not get what she wanted.

* * *

Here's some information regarding where some of the characters live:

Sasuke and Naruto: 700 Konoha Hall  
Sakura and Ino: 701 Konoha Hall  
Temari: 709 Konoha Hall (Resident Assistant, single room)  
Neji: 718 Konoha Hall (Resident Assistant, single room)  
Shikamaru and Chouji: 721 Konoha Hall  
Hinata: 620 Suna Hall (single room)  
Tenten: 616 Suna Hall (Resident Assistant, single room)  
Kiba and Shino: 619 Suna Hall


	3. Follow Through

_Oh, this is the start of something good,  
Don't you agree?  
I haven't felt this in so many moons,  
You know what I mean?  
_-"Follow Through," Gavin Degraw

* * *

"What?" Sakura cried. "I can't hear you!"

The pink haired girl motioned at her ears with an apologetic look over the deafening music. It was her first party in college and she was – unwillingly – pulled along by her social butterfly of a roommate. The house Ino peer pressured her to was packed wall to wall with gyrating people and the thick, musty atmosphere that hung in the air was enough to make Sakura faint in the head.

Naruto yelled louder, "I SAID, WHY WOULD VODKA DO THIS TO ME? I'VE ALWAYS BEEN SO LOYAL!"

His pink haired friend rolled her eyes and shoved a bottle of water toward the blonde's face. "This is _vodka_," she lied, pointing at the opaque liquid, "I think you were drinking from the wrong bottle. Drink up!"

Naruto happily acquiesced and chugged the contents of the bottle quickly. A guy with spiky hair the color of sepia with eyes to match stumbled over to Sakura and Naruto. He swung a hand over the intoxicated freshman in a one armed hug and flashed a sloppy grin to the girl.

"The biggest lesson I've learned in college is that you drink if you're happy. Drink more if you aren't!"

Sakura knew the guy, he was an acquaintance of Ino's. She had already done her research on him prior to the party just to confirm he wasn't a sketchy guy wanting some ass. Kankuro, his name was, is actually Temari's younger brother who lived off campus. He majored in Theatre and was pretty well known by the plethora of University productions he's been apart of. Some might call this stalking, but Sakura just thought of it as being prepared.

The aspiring actor fished a can of beer in one of his pockets and handed it to Sakura. The freshman took it and smiled politely, "Sounds like a wonderful philosophy."

Kankuro casually checked her out with heavily lidded eyes. "You're cute, pink." With that, the guy disappeared in the sea of people.

Sakura's gaze lingered in the path Kankuro disappeared from with a faint grin. She opened the metal container and sipped on the beverage, making a small face of disgust. The taste of beer haven't been well acquainted with her taste buds yet.

"That beer looks like it tastes like lonliness!" teased Ino in a sing song voice, pushing her way toward her friends in the sea of people. She pointed at Sakura's beer.

"Dance around me all you want, Ino, but in the end I'm just going to punch you in the face."

Said blonde stuck out her tongue and grabbed Naruto to twirl him around. The male freshman looked like he was going to hurl. Sakura grabbed his stumbling body away from the cheerful dancer and steadied him.

"Don't do that!" berated Sakura, swatting Ino away, "He's going to vomit everywhere!"

Her friend rolled her eyes and flipped her hair, a classic Ino gesture. She then extended a hand through the crowd and pulled someone by the shirt toward the small group. "Look who I met!"

Sakura caught brief glance of the rogue-ish boy whom Ino presented before getting a nice look at the back of his head. He immediately pulled the dancer into a bear hug and emerged from the union with a goofy grin. It was she who initiated the introducing.

"Sakura this is Kiba, Kiba this is Sakura, my roommate! He lives in Suna, the building right next to us!"

Sakura extended a hand but Kiba enveloped her in a bear hug as well. She took in a huge whiff of marijuana on his person. This guy was clearly intoxicated in all different ways.

"'Sup Sakura," he drawled, clearly having a blast, "Name's Kiba, and dogs are like my fucking power animal."

The pink haired student gave him a skeptic look and turned her gaze at Ino. Her blonde friend just giggled and patted Kiba on the shoulders. "Isn't this kid hilarious?" she laughed, "I totally think he should join our friend group!"

Sakura righted Naruto on her shoulders and shook her head. "We don't have a clique Ino, we're just a group of motley freshmen modge-podged together. Anyways, I think we should start heading home now, we've been here for three hours and it's getting late."

Ino looked at her like she said something completely unreasonable. "Leave?" she cried, "Now?"

Sakura shook her head at her friend's tone of desperation. "I assure you, if we don't leave now your mascara will be on the toilet seat tomorrow because that's where you're going to fall asleep tonight."

"You're such a fun sucker, Forehead," snipped Ino, taking a huge gulp from her red solo cup. Sakura could only venture a guess the contents inside were Malibu and coke, the blonde's favorite drink.

"Do you have any cash? We can call a cab but that requires money and I only bought my phone with me."

Kiba raised a finger to contribute to the conversation. "I've got fifteen cents in cash and 80 cents in the bank. BUT, I have weed."

Ino hollered in laughter and Naruto stirred at the noise. Sakura was going to shoot herself, or her friends, whichever was faster. She shook the other girl by the shoulders with great difficulty due to Naruto still leaning on her.

"I'm SERIOUS, Ino! It's approaching three o'clock in the morning!"

Her roommate waved cheerfully at a random passerby but sobered from her laughter and good mood to lock her gaze with Sakura. "I'm serious, too! You don't have to be such a mom to me, you know. We're the same age! I promise you I can take care of myself tonight. Just go home and put that one to bed," Ino reasoned, motioning at Naruto. "I'll be back in the morning."

Sakura sighed and gave up. "Fine, I'll see you tomorrow."

Ino grinned and took Kiba by the collar to drag him toward another part of the house. Sakura craned her neck and stood at the tip of her toes to find the exit and finally spotted the door. Slowly, she started pushing her way through the crowd.

"Excuse me- I'm sorry- please make way-,"

"Going somewhere, Pinky?"

Sakura was literally an arms length away from the door when she was blocked by a guy who looked like a senior. He had silver hair slicked back and mischievous looking eyes.

"I'm going home," replied Sakura, shifting Naruto's weight on her shoulder.

"You don't seem tipsy enough to have been enjoying a good time at this party. What's the matter?"

The girl could feel her energy draining from supporting Naruto's larger frame. "Listen, shove off and go harass some other harmless freshman because I am in no mood to deal with your-,"

"Listen here, Pinky, listen here!" the guy mocked, "My name's Hidan and I'm from the fraternity that graciously donated the keg to this party. I'm just asking why you're not having a good time, and potentially even offering you a free drink-," he stopped temporarily to pull out a red solo cup and pouring half a bottle of jagarmeister into the container. He topped it off with a small helping of cola. "If you drink this up, you can leave this house hassle free,"

Sakura glared at the frat boy. She knew he was up to know good. From Inner's calculations, he was probably waiting for her to chug the alcohol and follow her home when she was drunk off her ass. Her green eyes scanned the area around the door and noticed five other people wearing the same t-shirt as the man blocking her, '_They're probably from the same damn frat._'

The option to reject or accept seemed to be a lose-lose situation altogether but there was no helping it. Ino was off in God knows where and Naruto was too blacked out to do any good. Sakura glared at Hidan in contempt as she started to extend her arm to reach the red cup.

"Hold it right there, Miss!"

Sakura stopped halfway from grabbed the solo cup and looked behind her. There stood a tall, awkward looking guy clothed in a tight green tee with an even tighter pair of jeans to match. His fishbowl hair style made his person look goofier, but the intense emotion in his eyes proved he was otherwise. With one quick motion, he swiped the alcohol from the fraternity brother's hand and chugged it.

Sakura stared wide eyed at the newcomer. She raced through her mind to figure out where he's seen her before, because really, he looks so familiar…

'_Oh, wait! I think he sat next to me in Anatomy and Physiology!_'

After his last gulp, the friendly stranger thrust the empty solo cup back into the antagonist's hands. Hidan scowled at the other male but stepped aside from the door nonetheless. Without another word, Sakura ushered Naruto out of the house while her savior followed suit behind her.

Sakura looked behind her just in time to watch Hidan incline his head downward to stare her down like a predator. Shuddering, she turned her attention forward.

The green clad guy took Naruto's other arm and slung it around his shoulders, much to the same fashion as Sakura. The girl looked at him in surprise of his kindness and smiled. "Thank you so much, by the way. My name's Sakura."

"A pleasure Miss Sakura, you can call me Lee!"

"That was my first party in college, and this one here's, too," she continued, motioning at Naruto.

Lee nodded slowly. "So you're just beginning your magnificent journey for the pursuit of knowledge?"

Sakura assumed her newfound acquaintance meant she was a freshman in college. "Uh…yes."

"How invigorating!"

The shimmer from Lee's bowl cut, his manner of speech, and his odd sense for fashion was unique compared to other students she met on campus. This all lead Sakura to believe he was going to be quite a character and interesting addition to her friend collection.

"Those were the days," Lee reminisced dramatically, "Everything was so fresh, so novel… although sophomore year has proven to be just as glorious and beautiful as well!" He sneaked a peak at Sakura. She caught this and diverted her eyes quickly to the road in front of her.

She coughed. "So…uh… I noticed you were in my Anatomy and Physiology class."

Lee smiled sloppily. "You are correct as always, just like in class-hic!"

Sakura smiled sheepishly and felt her body being lumbered toward the road. Lee was swaying at the direction of the incoming cars.

'_Oh _crap_, the alcohol is kicking in isn't it? Is he really that much of a lightweight?_'

Cars honked and angry teenagers yelled out the window at the un-law abiding citizens treading by a busy street.

"LEE, what are you doing!"

"I wished to have spoken to you, but you occupied a seat exactly three rows and five seats away from me in our lecture hall-hic!" he swaggered to his right and forcing Sakura and Naruto back onto the sidewalk. The drunken one lauded on, "You looked so fiercely determined to answer the Professor's - hic! - questions and spirited in your note taking, I couldn't bare to think of tearing you away from your studious task!"

Suddenly, the girl felt Naruto's weight gravitate toward the ground and she rooted her legs to support his unconscious body.

"Woah, Lee!" she exclaimed, watching his body drop to the pavement. "Hello?"

Sakura gently sat the blonde next to Lee and he stirred. "Naruto?" she questioned, shaking his shoulders a bit.

"…Ramen…in the smoke…he blew…," he mumbled, shifting to his left side. Sakura gave the two grown men an exasperated look. Both were in fetal position and facing each other as if huddling together for warmth.

"Ugh," Sakura groaned, "I didn't want to spend money but I guess I'm going to have to call the cab…,"

Her hand instinctively moved to her right pocket where she normally put her phone but realized in horror there was nothing there.

"Oh my God," she breathed, feeling her heart accelerate, "Oh my God, where's my phone?"

Sakura started searching her body but to no avail. She was only wearing a pair of shorts and a flowing tank top. Even her keys are missing!

"OH MY GOD!" Sakura screamed out loud. "WHAT HAVE I DONE!"

The coral haired girl started searching Naruto's pocket for his phone but only found his keys and wallet, and debated searching Lee's person for a cellular device. After little deliberation, she realized she needed to locate her phone and keys fast before she developed an aneurism.

'_Searching Lee it is… I hope to God he doesn't wake up._'

Sakura grazed her palm up against Lee's pockets and quickly found a phone. She carefully fished out a plain and primitive looking device. Without any hesitation, she dialed her number. Luckily, a dial tone was heard.

"Hi! This is Sakura Haruno. I'm not here right now-,"

'_AGH, NO!_' Inner screamed, throwing a tantrum. '_SOMEBODY PICK UP SO I CAN TRACK YOU DOWN AND MAIM YOU!_'

Sakura glared fiercely at the ground and redialed her number again. She was about to press the green "call" button when she saw two other familiar names on the list.

"Neji and Tenten, huh?" Sakura pondered, before pressing the right digits.

"Hello?"

'_Alright, Sakura, you got a response! Play it cool and negotiate how to get your phone back. Do. Not. Freak. Out. On. The. Guy._'

"Hi. This is owner to the phone you're on right now. You have thirty seconds to tell me where you're at before I end you."

'_Damn it, why don't I ever listen to me?_'

"Allow me to introduce myself, Man Not Caring," the voice replied on the other line. Strangely, the man sounded very familiar.

Sakura took a deep breath. "Sorry, I'm sorry. I'm just freaking out right now. My roommate is off doing God knows what, one of the friends I went to a party with passed out and I'm walking him home, and another friend who was helping me with the first friend is now passed out as well, AND I DON'T KNOW WHERE THE HELL MY PHONE IS-!"

"Is this Pink?"

The girl automatically knew who the voice belonged to and gasped. "Sasuke?"

"I prefer Man Not Caring."

"Sasuke!" Sakura exclaimed, a wave of relief washing over her, "Thank God it's you!"

"I always knew my presence moved you."

"Shut up," Sakura remarked quickly, without missing a beat, "how did you know it was me?"

"It couldn't be the obnoxious pink phone and the overly neurotic tone of the owner's voice that tipped me off…,"

Sakura could picture with perfect clarity the smirk on Sasuke's face as he spoke with overflowing sarcasm.

"Douchebag," she muttered, "Where are you?"

"Eh, I'm just about to leave a party…,"

"The party!" the girl exclaimed, "Where was my phone? I was just there, I left half an hour ago!"

"Still not caring," Sasuke reminded her, "but I found it on a table near the kitchen."

"Why didn't you try to contact me?" demanded Sakura.

"2:30 A.M. calls is only for the drunk or the lonely, and I am neither," the freshman girl could hear a feminine giggle in the background on the other end of the line.

"Sasuke, Naruto and my friend Lee are blacked out on the side of a street, and I can't possibly find a ride home. The buses stopped running and I don't have money for a cab. Your roommate is mumbling incoherent things! Come get us!"

She heard a breathy sigh segueing into a moan on the opposite end. This entire situation was so aggravating.

"Listen, Pink, I'm kind of busy right now-,"

"If you don't want to do this for me, then do it for your roommate! It's getting really late, he's unconscious, and he needs water. Naruto's probably dehydrated off his ass right now!"

Suddenly, an idea of chicanery struck her.

"And-," her voice started breaking up lachrymosely, "And- it's so cold, and stupid me fo-forgot a sweatshirt, and-and I can't believe I l-l-left my phone at some random _party_ my roommate guilt tripped me into g-g-go-going and I've nev-never felt so _stranded_ in my _life_-," Sakura interrupted herself to expel a maudlin wail. She could imagine Sasuke cringing at the ear piercing sound.

"And-,"

"Okay, okay!" Sasuke surrendered.

Sakura grinned devilishly but continued her charade.

"Wh-what?"

"Where are you? I'll come get you, just turn off the waterworks."

The girl perked immediately. "If you're leaving the party, just make a left and drive down that road. You should see us about half a mile down. Thanks! I'll be waiting."

Sakura quickly ended the conversation before her classmate could respond. She gingerly slipped the phone back into Lee's pocket.

Naruto and Lee's sleeping body gently rose with each breath which was surely a good sign. Sakura sat down between the two and folded her knees toward herself. She hugged her legs and rubbed her calves up and down to generate heat. The guilt trip on Sasuke wasn't a complete lie, it was definitely getting too brisk out even for a regular summer night.

About ten minutes of waiting, a black Aston Martin finally pulled up toward the group on the side of the road. Sakura's head throbbed at the intense light that shone in her face from the vehicle. Before their savior had pulled up, she was nodding in and out of consciousness – her Circadian clock was lamenting her body it needed sleep. Sasuke emerged from the car and strode over to the trio.

"Finally," Sakura commented, pushing herself up. Sasuke knelt down and pulled Naruto into standing position. Sakura opened the door for the two while Sasuke set the blonde in the back seat. He turned around to look at Lee.

"Who's eyebrows?"

"Shut _up_, Sasuke," she pleaded in annoyance, "His name's Lee. He's in my Anatomy and Physiology class who helped me get out of a predicament back at the house."

She watched the dark haired man pick up Lee in the same fashion as before. "Let me guess, they blocked you from the door and made an ultimatum to drink a full cup of hard alcohol before you left."

"How'd you know?"

"They're an honors frat so they have this predisposed hard working and prestigious façade while they're really all scumbags deep down and they know it."

Sakura wearily raised a brow in question as she pulled opened the passenger door.

"My brother use to be in it. I know the people."

She nodded quietly and slipped inside the vehicle. No matter how tired she was, Sakura could still appreciate the lavishness of the car. Sasuke started driving and the low hum of the Aston Martin was the only thing keeping silence at bay.

"Thought you were bringing home a girl?" Sakura inquired, turning the air condition away from her.

"Hn."

"There you go again with that stupid grunt."

"Hn."

"Did you see Ino leave the party? I think she brought her key to the house but I have no idea where mine is…," admitted Sakura, shamefully. She hated losing track of her belongings; Sakura was notorious for keeping her things organized and in order, her friend's things in order, and even sometimes her family's things in order. So maybe she is a little neurotic sometimes.

"For an aspiring doctor, you should get your shit together."

This struck a nerve. Sakura made a disgusted sound in the back of her throat. "Get _my_ shit together? I don't need someone who only met me for two days to judge me. I'm sure there's a reason for your stuck up attitude as well!"

"This is way too nice of a car for an average college student, even at this University. Your parents probably spoil you rotten in return for constant perfection," stung Sakura, shifting so she sat away from Sasuke. She peered out the window and could see the faint silhouette of the campus.

"You're right,"

Inner Sakura unhinged her jaw and promptly stuck a proverbial foot in her mouth.

"Um… I'm, um," she coughed, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been hypocritical in judging you right back."

Sasuke turned the steering wheel with precision around the sharp corner that lead to the entrance of the college.

"There's nothing to apologize about," he said with a hollow tone, "What you said is true."

Sakura hung her head slightly and glanced at him. No further words were exchanged by the two until Sasuke pulled into the parking lot behind their building. After disconnecting the key with the car, he glanced coolly over to Sakura. "So what's going to happen to these two?"

"You carry Naruto to your room and leave two bottles of water by his side and I'll get Lee into my bed for the night."

Sasuke gave her a questioning stare and she stomped on his foot for being such a pervert. The two stumbled their way to the main entrance – moreso Sakura under Lee's bigger frame than Sasuke – and was relieved to see the security guard absent from the entry way.

Sakura trudged down her hallway with Sasuke leading the way. He withdrew his keys from his pocket and started unlocking his door. He nodded over to Sakura in a silent gesture of saying, "good night."

"Thanks," she mumbled, eyes half open. His door closed shut before she got to her own. Sakura turned the locked handle, wishfully thinking it would be open, but to no avail. She rapped her knuckles against the wooden obstruction and listened closely to hear any movement. Ino was clearly not in the room.

Sakura released a guttural groan of despair which echoed down the deserted hallway. The biologist gently set Lee down in a heap on the floor and treaded over to Temari's room. She knocked on the wooden door three distinct times.

After waiting for a reply that never arrived, she started pounding on the door more animatedly. Sasuke swung his door open and jerked his head out the threshold, glaring at the source of the ruckus.

"Helping or hurting, Pink? Helping or hurting?"

Sakura gave him a 'piss off' face and retreated toward their end of the hall. "Temari won't answer her door. I'm too tired to find any other R.A. who I don't even know," she sighed, shaking her head. The girl stopped in front of Sasuke, who in turn looked down at her nonplussed. She stared up at him with the most victimized expression she could muster at 3:30 in the morning.

"Could Lee stay in your room, please?"

"Hell no," he said, flatly.

"Oh come on, he's so vulnerable!"

"I don't even know him."

"This can be your good deed of the day. Heck, the week. The month! Even snotty people like you believe in karma, right?" Sakura peeked into the dimly lit room behind the guy's figure. "Look, you even have a futon. Just leave him there!"

Room 701 was like yin and yang. Sasuke's bed was lofted which created space for a black leather futon beneath his mattress. Naruto's bed was just on the ground in its messy and unadulterated glory. The blonde's sleeping body was dumped on top of the massive load of either laundry or dirty clothes while he slept awkwardly.

"Sasuke!" berated Sakura, as soon as she saw Naruto's sleeping position. She pushed him out of the way in order to tilt her unconscious friend to his side. The girl also made it a note to move some clothes off the bed. "What if he threw up? What if he choked on his vomit?"

Sasuke shrugged. "A single room for me, then."

"UGH," Sakura yelled, stomping out of room 700 to pick up the passed out Lee. Sasuke rubbed his temples as he stepped out of the way to let Sakura through. "I can't believe I'm letting you do this."

"Take one for the team for once," seethed Sakura, cranky from sleepiness.

"Where are you going?" questioned Sasuke. Sakura was halfway out the door before stopping. She whirled around ready to slap him for his ineptness until she looked at Lee.

"Oh, right." 'Pink' floated toward the case of water bottles by Sasuke's refrigerator and placed two near Lee. After doing so, she turned for the exit.

"I didn't mean that," scoffed Sasuke, crossing his arms. "I meant, where are _you_ going?"

Sakura shrugged. "I 'unno. Lounge, maybe? I doubt Ino's going to pick up her phone at this rate…,"

Tall, dark, and handsome looked like he was internally waging a war in his mind. Sakura could see the frustration and annoyance on his pale features.

"If we were to wake in the same bed together, what are the three words you'd say to me?"

Sakura let out a maniacal laugh. She was definitely delusional right now.

"Uh… get out now?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and strode past the girl to close the door. He then climbed up to his bed and threw a pillow to the other end of the mattress.

"No, you would say, 'I love you,' for being the most selfless and humble person in the world to share his abode with a random stranger and a demanding nutcase."

Sakura shook her head and followed his lead hesitantly. Did she really want to do this?

Her legs unconsciously lead Sakura to follow his example and climbed into the bed – she blamed it on the lack of sleep. Sakura envisioned their awkward head-to-toe formation as she slowly inched herself inside the navy duvet covers. She made sure to keep a good barrier of space between them by turning toward the wall. The girl had no idea why she felt so nervous around this ordeal. It's not like she's never slept near a guy before.

Sasuke leaned over the bed to switch off the lights. No matter how nervous or jittery she felt, her tired state overrode all other thoughts. She yawned, still trying to think of a retort for his last comment before drowning in slumber forever. The abnormal comfort of his bed was distracting her from concocting the right comeback.

"Could you be a bigger ass right now?" she asked, curling up on her side.

"Could you _have_ a bigger ass right now-ow!"

Sakura smiled as she heard him evoke a cry of pain after she kicked him in the face. She'll be sure to 'accidentally' push him off the bed tomorrow as a wake up call…

* * *

Wew, this was a longer chapter. I hope things weren't too slow! Still establishing the conflicts and characters and such. Truth be told, I have no idea what I'm doing for the next chapter yet, but I'll think of something!

Thank you so much for all who've reviewed, it definitely made the writing process easier! Just to put it out there, I have the ending for this story already in mind… so the only obstacle now are the chapters inbetween! A little change to make note of, it might not be a big edit but it will be if I ever have a sequel…

Sasuke's major is now MACROECONOMICS and Business, concentrating in Finance and Operations Management (before it was just economics).  
Neji's major is now MICROECONOMICS and Biochemstry & Molecular Biology.

Also,

frienz4ever: I'm majoring in Public Health Sciences and minoring in Sociology and either Kinesiology (Exercise Science) or Psychology :)  
XxCrimsonNovaxX: I'm a huge fan of Sharapova Pink, so I am honored you're reading this!  
Crispy Gecko-Chan: Thanks for the catch! I changed it


	4. Catch My Disease

_So please, baby please  
__Come on and catch my disease  
_-"Catch My Disease," Ben Lee

* * *

Sasuke woke up to a blaring tune out of no where. '_What the hell?_' He did not remember setting his alarm for the morning.

Suddenly it stopped. Finally at peace, he closed his eyes once more and reclaimed precious sleep.

Then again out of the blue, the happy chirp assaulted the tranquil room and broke the silence. This time, a foot shot out from a sea of blankets and made contact with the bridge of his nose.

"OW! The fuck..!" He grunted, jolting a hand up to mitigate the pain on his face. Sasuke scrunched his nose a few times and glared furiously at the occupant on the other end of his bed. His attacker only moaned and half heartedly stretched out her hand as if trying to locate the object responsible for the rude awakening.

"Turn that thing off," Sasuke gruffly demanded, narrowing his eyes in the presence of the bright sunlight slowly infiltrating the room. As if on command, the chirping ceased. Pleased at his God-like qualities, the Uchiha resumed his sleeping position and pulled the covers above his eyes, shielding him from the light.

It only took another second before another sound emitted – this time an upbeat and fast-paced song. After five full fledged seconds, Sasuke forced his eyes open and deduced the noise was coming from the person occupying his futon below.

"Sakura. Turn that thing off." Sasuke gritted out, reaching behind him to throw one of his multiple pillows toward the girl.

"It's not mine…," Sakura growled and buried her head under her pillow. She gave the dark haired student another nudge with her feet, this time only hitting him by the shoulders. "You go get it."

The song only seemed to get louder before replaying right when Sasuke thought the horrible tune was over. "It's coming from eyebrows," he barked, kicking Sakura back.

The kick seemed to make contact with a sensitive area, for Sakura immediately retaliated by pushing him off the bed. The thud on impact followed by a muffled growl awakened the girl's nascent consciousness. She didn't think he'd be that easy to push around!

"Ow, you bitch! I was not prepared!" He groaned, the wind slightly knocked out of him.

Sakura smirked and wrapped herself deeper into the duvet covers. '_Pansy._'

On the ground, Sasuke rubbed his chest while simultaneously scanning the area for the cellular device. Upon locating it near the two bottles of water for Lee, he grabbed it and read the screen. '_Tenten_,' the screen flashed, just as the phone silenced itself and a new display showed, "_1 missed call, 1 unread message(s)_."

The Uchiha was about to shut the phone off when a devilish idea popped into his mind. He smirked evilly and eyed the resting girl on his bed. Sasuke dialed his own number on Lee's phone before ending the call and deftly arranged the device on the loudest setting. Then, he gingerly placed the green mobile phone an inch away from Sakura's head on the pillow.

Stepping a few steps back, Sasuke retrieved his iPhone and began dialing the most recent number on the list. A moment later, the same deafening song erupted from the device, this time much louder than the last.

"Oh my GOD!" screamed a startled Sakura, instantly jolting up and throwing the covers back. Her head snapped in the direction of the offending device and pressed a bunch of buttons several times, taking no heed as to which as long as that noise would just shut off. Not far away, one of the owners of the room was snickering outwardly at the scene.

Sakura shot Sasuke a murderous look and scrambled to find the heaviest object around her to turn into a projectile. The only thing that would suffice was her pillow. She hurled the fluffy pillow at him only to realize at the last second her pink phone was also on top of it. "Oh no!" She cried, extending a hand out.

Sasuke, not knowing the pillow came with a harder, injury-causing partner, merely held an arm up to deflect the incoming object. However, before the pillow even made contact with his arm, a metallic pink device bypassed his makeshift shield and came hurtling toward his face.

"OW! Are you serious? Stop! That's the second time this morning you hit me in the face… fuck, it's too early for this bullshit!"

Sakura doubled in laughter at Sasuke cringing in pain and his incredulous expression. A few seconds later, she sobered up and suppressed her laugh to giggles. "Sh!" she chastised, giving him a pointed look, "Are you stupid? It's, like, seven in the morning and those two need their rest!" Sakura whispered seriously.

Just to spite her, Sasuke retorted loudly, "Oh my God, I care so little I almost passed out-,"

Naruto groaned in his sleep and turned on his stomach. Sakura's eyes instantly diverted to his direction. "Shh!"

Sasuke, still treating his nose, bent down and picked up the abandoned phone on the floor. Sakura watched, half hopeful he would return her phone since he was heading toward the bed, but Sasuke had other plans and took a sharp turn to the window.

"What? Where are you going?" She inquired, flipping over on the bed to prop herself up by the elbows.

Sasuke turned around to smirk at her while his hand pushed the window open.

Sakura's eyes widened in realization at his larceny. That guy was seriously going to throw her phone out the window! "Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Without thinking, she dived onto Sasuke's back from the lofted bed and straddled his waist with her legs. Her left hand pressed down on his shoulder while her right arm reached out for her phone. Sasuke only extended his hand out the window further, away from her reach.

"Are you crazy? That's my freaking phone!"

Sasuke was a bit taken aback by Sakura actually launching herself from his bed, this chick was definitely a nutcase. "Are YOU crazy? Who jumps off a lofted bed sober?" He exclaimed, struggling with the girl's added weight and dogged attempts to reclaim her phone.

"Ugh, give it to me!" She pushed down harder on his shoulder to propel herself toward Sasuke's outstretched hand. The pink haired girl scratched at his bare wrists and left lines of red trailing toward his elbow.

"Hey-! Jesus, stop that, you're like a cat! I better not get rabies after this-,"

Suddenly, Sakura felt herself being whirled around and slammed into the wall. Her back and head collided with the concrete surface with a bang and the pain caused her to loosen the grip she once claimed around Sasuke's upper body. Both hands shot up to nurse her aching head but this action only made her lose her grip on Sasuke completely, sliding down to the floor. "Oof!"

The taller student peered down at her in triumph, speaking in levity, "Since you want to get rid of your phone so badly, I'll be a gentleman and go ahead and do it for you." His hand reached out toward the window again.

"Oh no you don't!" Sakura hugged both Sasuke's legs together and pushed forward behind his knees, succumbing him to the pressure and forcing him to the ground. Due to the sudden change in position, Sasuke released his grip on the phone which tumbled onto his desk before innocently bouncing onto the carpeted floor a few feet away from the couple.

Sakura took this opportunity to climb on top of Sasuke to reach for her phone. The man beneath her grunted at the unexpected weight on his back, "G-get off," he demanded, arching his back and using one hand to push Sakura off him. "Oof, you're like a hippo!"

"I'm flattered that I'm a one-man zoo!" Sakura hissed while Sasuke's arms successfully removed her so she rolled off his body and onto the floor. Sasuke also made an attempt to push off the ground to grab the phone but Sakura latched onto the front of his shirt and pulled down, slowing down his progress. Her efforts were in vain, however, due to his advantage over her in strength.

"Then say you're sorry!" He commanded, then scowled, "Fuck!" Sasuke felt the fabric of his softest t-shirt tearing at the force Sakura exerted from her position on the floor.

"Sorry for what?" grunted Sakura, now clawing at his sides. Both college students were now on the floor; Sasuke was closer to the phone than Sakura, the latter trying her best to obviate his movement by pulling on his shirt.

The Uchiha momentarily abandoned his reach for the phone to swat Sakura's hands away from his clothing. His other arm was occupied from supporting his weight. "Oh I don't know," he sarcastically started, "How about maiming my face at the start of the morning? Twice? Ow!"

"Ouch, you bastard!" cried Sakura as Sasuke elbowed her on the shoulder, "Once was by accident! You don't have to blow a fuse and," the girl latched onto his shirt with both hands now while she pushed off the ground with her knees, "throw my shit out the window!"

Sasuke retaliated by pulling both her hands upward to bite them, exposing his toned stomach since Sakura was still clutching onto his shirt. The girl winced in pain - "Asshole!-, but took the moment to crawl over him, her legs on either side of his form.

"You didn't have to throw your shit at me to begin with! Fuck, that hurts! Apologize!"

Sakura was now on top of Sasuke, her elbow digging into his sternum while her other arm was outstretched toward the phone. Her prize was within arms reach when she felt Sasuke wrap a powerful arm around her waist and force her onto the ground beside him. This sudden movement caused the girl to slap the device further away from the pair.

"Hell no! You're hurting me just as much as I'm hurting you!"

Sasuke immediately rolled on top of the girl after banishing her onto the ground, using his heavier body weight as a trap to suppress Sakura. "And you call yourself a gentleman!" admonished the biologist, kneeing him in the stomach.

"Ugh!" Sasuke lost his breath for a second at Sakura's attack. The girl beneath him squeezed out of his grasp and attempted to dart toward the phone. Before she could move, however, Sasuke grabbed her arm and jerked back, using this force to propel himself forward.

"No!" Just as she was tugged backwards, Sakura pulled at the end of his shorts, exposing his navy blue plaid boxers. Sasuke disregarded this and continued toward the phone which he claimed and clutched onto. He used his other hand to pry Sakura's off his pants and swiftly pushed off the ground. Nimbly, he jumped across Sakura who was still on the floor and held his fist out the window, phone in hand.

"Okay, alright! I'm sorry! Don't do it, I'm sorry!" Sakura pleaded, her eyes wide.

Sasuke breathed heavily and hung his hand limply on the window pane. Sakura was just as equally exhausted from her spot on the floor.

'_That bastard does not go easy,_' '_That bitch does not go easy_,' they both thought in unison.

"Don't, please! I apologize!" Sakura continued, surrendering and out of breath. Sasuke leaned against the wall next to the window and withdrew his arm, throwing the pink phone back at his opponent.

Both students were exhausted and hurting. Sakura wrapped her fingers around her cellphone, placing it on her chest as she laid on the floor. Suddenly, a cough interrupted the heavy breathing.

"Uh…," started Naruto, rubbing his eyes. "What did I miss?"

* * *

"They seem to be a nice batch, eh, Neji?"

Tenten rotated her neck back and forth, both arms stretched out in front of her. The pair had just ascended and descended the nearby Mount Kage, an aesthetically pleasing mountain that overlooked the University. Both Neji and Tenten were star track athletes for Kage University and they often trained together.

Currently, they were taking a short break before jogging back to the dining commons to grab breakfast.

"It's too early to tell."

Tenten withdrew her phone and punched in some digits. She held the tan-brown device to her ear and stared at the ground. A moment later, she sighed and pressed the red "end" button. "Lee's still not picking up. It's really not like him to deviate from our routine."

"Curious." Was all Neji said with his back turned to her.

"Well, whatever," dismissed Tenten, pocketing her phone. "Wanna head back now?"

"After you," he replied, stepping sideways and extending an arm forward.

* * *

"Ohhh my God," Naruto moaned, "Oh my God. If this hangover is a prequel of how college is gonna be, I want nothing to do with it."

"Keep it together," said a nonplussed Sasuke, narrowing his dark eyes at his roommate. Sakura looked on sternly yet with a hint of sympathy. She inched closer to the blonde's bed and unscrewed a bottle of water.

"Drink this," she offered. Naruto tiredly acquiesced, not that he was going to argue in his condition. He finished two thirds of the bottle's contents before stopping to breathe properly.

"Sakura, you want to be a doctor, right?"

The pink haired girl frowned in confusion. What kind of question was that at a time like this?

"Uh… yeah?"

"Do you know how to check for cancer? Because I think it might be brain cancer. Hangovers can't possibly be this bad."

Sasuke snorted, "If they still haven't invented an effective cure for a hangover, then good luck with your cancer."

Before Sakura could retort, the same shrill song rang from Lee's cellphone. All eyes shot at the alarming sound which was located on Sasuke's bed. This time, even Lee stirred and began coming into consciousness. Sakura rose to her feet and retrieved the phone from the bed, handing it to Lee.

"Hey, good morning," she said kindly, kneeling next to the bedridden boy. Sasuke's brows rose at the sudden change in demeanor.

"Oh! Miss Sakura! Where am I? My phone-,"

"Here, you better answer it. It rang before but you missed the call."

Sasuke rubbed his eyes and massaged his temples before sidestepping Sakura to duke behind his closet. He could already envision his morning turning further south than it already had so he opted to escape from the torture chamber he once called his room.

"Hello?" Sasuke heard a groggy Lee say just as he threw his old shirt over his head. He inspected it upon release, he could see a couple of loose threads by the hem and the collar was hanging in an awkward position from the stress Sakura exerted with all her pulling.

'_Tch. What an annoying person._'

"Tenten! What? Yes, I'm fine. WHAT? What time is it? No! Apologize one hundred times for me to Neji and I will make it up to you both when we meet at the dining commons! I'll be there soon with a table!"

Sakura heard familiar names. '_Tenten_,' the R.A. from the first day with the cute hairstyle. '_Neji,_' the R.A. from the other side of the hall. My, was the world small.

Sasuke finished changing into new clothes and stepped out from the closet just in time to see Lee snap his phone shut.

"Miss Sakura! Thank you so much for taking care of me last night! I respect and appreciate your good natured kindness immensely in my moment of unyouthful vulnerability, but I must depart for I have already missed an important ritual I share with my friends!" Lee sat up fast to salute to Sakura but his head started reeling and the biologist reached out to steady him.

"You shouldn't over exert yourself, Lee. And please, call me Sakura. If you really need to meet your friends, take a bottle of water with you and don't rush to get there!"

Lee smiled wearily as Sakura chided him. He leaned his back against the futon for a moment. Lee glanced at his surroundings, the complaining Naruto, and the less than pleased Sasuke only to realize this room was not Sakura's.

"Oh! That must be your friend from last night!" said Lee, looking at Naruto. "But, I'm not quite sure who you might be…,"

"Man Not Caring," insisted Sasuke, referring to his self-proclaimed alias. Sakura rolled her eyes and glared at him.

"His name starts with an 'A' and ends in 'sshole,'" she encouraged, handing Lee a bottle of water.

The student in question sighed and reached for his desk. "Sasuke Uchiha."

"Sasuke Uchiha?" repeated Lee, taking a moment to think by drinking from the bottle. He let the name whiz through his mind because he could've sworn he heard it somewhere before-

"Sasuke Uchiha!" It clicked. "Are you the son of Fugaku Uchiha?"

Sakura frowned and thought deeply; had she heard of the name Fugaku Uchiha before?

"Yes and yes, Pink," he confirmed.

'_Crap! I was thinking out loud again!_' she thought, embarrassed.

Sasuke continued, "I'm the devil's spawn who owns Uchiha Incorporated, one of the largest companies in Asia."

Lee smiled politely. "It's an honor to meet such an influential and salient person."

Sakura rolled her eyes as she saw Sasuke smirk down at her. She remembered her position from kneeling on the ground and stood up right away, glaring back at him. Even if he was a good half a foot taller, his condescending look was a lot easier to handle at somewhat-eye level.

"Don't inflate his ego even more, Lee," she warned, "he's going to own the largest head in Asia if you don't stop."

Lee laughed nervously while Naruto palliated the tense environment by groaning in frustration

"Can you guys leave me in PEACE?"

The sophomore widened his eyes. "Yes! I shouldn't linger any longer. Thank you very much for allowing me with a place to rest, I hope to see you all in the future! Good day Sakura!" With that, he bounced up – only willing to steady himself for half a second because Sakura was _right there_ and she can't be seeing more weakness from him – and exited soundlessly through the door.

Sasuke raised a brow at the unique individual who just clicked his door shut while Sakura eyed him suspiciously. "Well, Uchiha isn't such a rare last name… I mean it pops up here and there-,"

"Pink," Sasuke interrupted, turning around to look at her wearily, "If I really wasn't the son of a business magnate would I really be driving an Aston Martin?"

Sakura countered, still leery, "We _are_ attending the most prestigious university in Japan so most students _are_ on the richer end of the spectrum-,"

"-Trust me on this one-,"

"-And why aren't there reporters swarming this place if so?"

"The old man's got connections with the Chancellor. Reporters are forbidden on this campus. I'm for real."

The pink haired freshman rolled her eyes, this just added another reason to her long list of dislike for Sasuke. Rich and pompous. She bent over to pick up her phone before heading for the exit.

Sasuke looped his car keys around his finger and followed the girl to the door, carrying an nettled look on his face. '_Christ,_ _this chick is a pain. I give her AND her weird friend a place to sleep and now she's accusing me for being a con-artist? Where does all this crazy come from?_'

Sakura paused at the door, hand on the knob. She peered over her shoulder in time to see the unnerving and calculating look she was receiving from Sasuke.

"What's wrong with your face?" she hissed, eyes narrowing.

"I was thinking-,"

"-Don't hurt yourself-"

"-Do you ever shut up?"

"Funny, I wa-," Sakura stopped herself mid-parry. She thought for a moment. Okay, the bastard _had _leant a helping hand last night and she should really show some gratitude. Her parents had brought her up with impeccable manners, after all, and they shouldn't be wasted on this immature, good-for-nothing piece of-

"I wanted to say," Sakura gritted out, her hand turning the knob and pulling the door ajar…

* * *

Ino could not take it anymore. Her bladder was going to explode if she did not get up right this instant but _damn it_ her bed felt so nice! '_Just five more minutes_.'

Unfortunately, her internal organ was an alarm clock that did not come with a snooze button.

"Ugh, okay, fine!" She grunted to no one in particular. The blonde flung the sheets off her body and grumpily ran a hand through her long locks, a vain attempt to detangle the mess she acquired from all of last night's dancing.

She clumsily put on a pair of mismatched flip flops and swaggered toward the door. That's when she heard a very familiar voice.

"I just wanted to say," the girlish voice said, a bit strained. Ino opened the door.

"Thanks for last night." Sakura finished, who also opened Sasuke's door just in time to see Ino's surprised look.

* * *

Hi everyone! So sorry for the long hiatus. Life has been rough. Junior year at college really IS hell year, for anyone who wants to know. It was school, work, clubs, work, school, work, clubs, work again and again BUT NOW IT'S FINALLY OVER! I have survived and now I'm on a nice vacation in China before studying abroad for 6 weeks in Thailand. I'm using this time to catch up on my stories, especially this one, since I think I have a semi-clear direction of how I want to steer "I Love College."


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